In Celebration
and Thanksgiving
for the life of
Kenneth Herbert Crook

March 28, 1960 – March 9, 2008

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and
would gladly live it again if the chance were offered to me.
Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

Gifts from the Heart

Ken loved celebrations: birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas,
and family gatherings. But more than this, he celebrated the
small things that make life so precious. He loved the first signs
of spring, birds at the feeder, quiet conversations under a
starry night, counting his goldfish in our garden pond, and
throwing the ball for Seabee. He enjoyed friends gathered
around the table to try a new recipe and share a laugh. He
took great delight in being a "wicked uncle" to our nephews
as he watched, with pride, as they grew up. He marveled at
the beauty of Ikebana and the gardens in Victoria and on
Pender Island. He respected the written word – both
creating it and reading the words of others. He savoured hot
chocolate on a cold day – and the odd jelly slice on the side.

Ken celebrated life with many gifts: a tremendous wit that
was a tonic to all who knew him, a bright and inquisitive
mind always learning something new, a deep sense of the
important things in life, a zest for the outdoors, a courageous
spirit and a caring heart. His greatest gift was love.

As you leave the Chapel today, please take a piece of the
stone from which the Pieta was created. Warm the stone in
your hand and hold Ken in your heart.

Sweet dreams,
Sara

Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon;
and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
Rossiter Worthington Raymond (1840 – 1918)

Ken's Pieta – February 2008

As Ken did throughout his life, in his last few months,he
surrounded himself with art and music.

A significant part of his own spiritual journey, Ken
commissioned Victoria sculptor Maarten Schaddelee to create
the Virgin Mary based on Michelangelo's first Pieta. The
sculpture is not meant to be a duplicate of the Pieta, but
rather a capturing of the essence of the sorrow, hope for
redemption, and compassion as seen in the original work of
art.

This was Ken's gift to me – forever in my heart.

Ken

Ken died peacefully at home on March 9, 2008 in Victoria, British
Columbia. Born in Edmonton, Alberta on March 28, 1960, and
raised in Fort Saskatchewan, Ken was the youngest son of the late
Clifford and Helen Crook.

Ken graduated from the University of Alberta with degrees in
Philosophy (1983 magna cum laude) and Law (1986), earning
numerous honours and awards in the process. Having begun his
career as a self-employed bicycle mechanic, Ken rose to become a
partner in the law firm of Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang, LLP.
Among his many accomplishments, he won the Churchill Society
debates in 1978, was an editor of the Alberta Law review, worked
for Student Legal Services in Edmonton, earned a well-deserved
reputation as a skilled lawyer, and published two books on
professional ethics and law with his best friend Derek Truscott.

Ken's greatest joy was his loving relationships with his extended
family, his many dear friends, his faithful dog Seabee, and the love
of his life, his wife Sara. Ken will also be missed by his sister Jo Ann
and her husband Ernie Mee, brother Rick and his wife Pat Crook,
nephews David and Andrew Mee, and Sara's parents Pat and Gerry
Neely.